A "magnetic latch" consists of a permanent magnet attached to one member of a pair of members which are movable with respect to each other and some magnetic material positioned on the other member to provide a "keeper" for the magnet when the two members are in a particular position. In cases where the material of the member itself or the portion of the material contacted by the poles of the permanent magnet in a closed position, is composed of magnetic material, the member can serve as the keeper. The keeper does not have to make actual contact with the magnet in order to operate satisfactorily. In order to avoid the marring and scratching which would occur on metal-to-metal contact, it is not infrequent that protective layers of elastomeric or other material are placed between the magnet and keeper when the latch is in closed position.
Magnetic latches usually have no moving parts and rely entirely upon magnetic attraction to maintain members in a particular position. Release is obtained by the application of sufficient manual effort to overcome magnetic attraction between members in such position. This constitutes an easy release feature which has resulted in the widespread use of magnetic latches in such applications as refrigerator and cabinet doors. The magnet can be on either of the members being latched. For example, the magnet can be attached to the door of a refrigerator and the keeper to the box portion of the refrigerator or these positions may be reversed. A latch can also be made of two magnets arranged for metal attraction in latching position. A magnetic latch can also be used for holding one member in a desired position with respect to another even though the desired position is not a "closed" position. Thus, as used herein, a magnetic latch between a pair of members describes a structure in which at least one permanent magnet positioned on a first member selectively maintains the position of a second member with respect to the first member.